{"id":908,"date":"2024-08-10T19:58:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T19:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/?page_id=908"},"modified":"2024-08-18T17:03:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T17:03:39","slug":"pink-floyd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/?page_id=908","title":{"rendered":"Paul Meets Pink Floyd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan since 1969 when my brother John introduced me to their first album \u201cPiper At The Gates Of Dawn.\u201d John had been away from home for a year at a Swiss boarding school. I missed him like crazy, and when he finally returned in early summer ’69, he brought back some cool things from his stay in Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


He\u2019d already mailed me two Italian switchblades while he was in Switzerland \u2014 I got into trouble playing around with those! My father ended up secretly confiscating them, and for years I wondered where they\u2019d vanished to \u2014 until one day I found one of them in his chest of drawers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


John also brought back a European (mono pressing) of Pink Floyd’s first LP, “Piper at The Gates Of Dawn.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Piper at the Gates of Dawn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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John Fenton and Rufus 1969<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The album cover looked pretty exotic and the music was too! In Canada we had never heard of (The) Pink Floyd, as they were called early on. They had not received any radio play in Canada and even though I religiously listened to the top 20 countdown on my little transistor radio while taking a bath every night, I never heard any Pink Floyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first listen, Piper was too far out and \u201cadult\u201d to my 15-year-old ears. “Astronomy Dominie” was cool, \u201cThe Gnome” and “Flaming” were nice and of course “Bike” was just great. But after the introduction to “Interstellar Overdrive” I was lost! I thought to myself \u201cI\u2019ll like this music when I’m a bit older.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Christmas 1969, Santa brought John Pink Floyd’s second album, “A Saucerful Of Secrets.\u201d I gave the album a listen, but except for “Jugband Blues” the music was still too weird for me. To this day, \u201cJugband Blues\u201d remains an all-time favourite song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early ’69 I made a trip to Montreal. There were some great record stores there, and I bought the newly released “Ummagumma.\u201d I brought the double album back to Ottawa and it quickly became a favourite at our neighbourhood acid parties.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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We continued listening to Pink Floyd and in 1973, a bunch of us took a bus to Montreal to see Pink Floyd’s \u201cDark Side of The Moon\u201d tour. It was a great concert and Floyd also played songs from \u201cUmmagumma\u201d and \u201cObscured By Clouds.\u201d We were blown away by the whole event. I yelled to David Gilmour (at a distance before the concert) “Hey Dave, how’s Syd?\u201d He acknowledged me with a brief nod.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In early 1972, I read a fantastic article in Rolling Stone<\/em> magazine written by Syd Barrett’s friend Mick Rock. I had been going through some rough teenage times and I could really relate to Mick\u2019s description of Syd’s shellshocked condition. Years later, my wife Cathy and I hung out with Mick at a cool New York, Greenwich Village bar one night.We talked about Syd, Rory Gallagher and Mick Ronson. It was fun to smoke a joint with Mick on a dark, foggy NYC street late at night! <\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Paul U.K. photo booth summer 1972<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As time went by, I began to just adore “Madcap” and a few months later I bought the 2nd Barrett album “Barrett.\u201d Before going to sleep every night I would listen to Rory Gallagher and Syd with headphones. Sometimes I’d drop off to sleep with the music playing. I’m sure that the music went deep into my subconscious and stayed there \u2014 I’m positive it did!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spring of ’73 I began my professional career as a guitar player. I eventually could do a passable Dave Gilmour imitation on guitar. I used a Big Muff fuzz pedal with a metal slide and we’d jam on “Echoes” for hours. I continued my love affair with Pink Floyd and bought every album they made as soon as they were released. In 1975, Floyd played at the Autostade in Montreal and although I couldn’t go to the concert, my friends recorded it on a cassette recorder. I got a copy of the tape and continued my woodshedding, trying to soak in Gilmour’s great guitar style. I particularly loved the live version of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” that Roger Waters dedicated to Syd Barrett at the concert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1987 I was back in Ottawa for a gig. \u201cThe Fenton Brothers\u201d had just relocated to Toronto to try and get further along in the music business. I was in my hotel room alone, having an afternoon beer and playing some guitar, getting ready for our gig that night. The telephone rang and I picked it up \u2014 it was a friend who worked with a local music promoter, \u201cBass Clef.\u201d My friend said \u201chi,\u201d then she asked me “do you want to meet Pink Floyd?\u201d I couldn’t believe it \u2014 of course I told her that I\u2019d love to! She told me to head down to the Ottawa Civic Center and there would be a \u201cworking band\u201d pass waiting for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grabbed a couple of my guitars to bring along just in case I met David Gilmour, so I could show them to him. I brought my 1928 National Tricone resonator guitar and a cool Valco “Jetsons” Airline model. I jumped in a cab and rode to the Civic Centre. When I arrived I picked up my pass and headed for the green room. There were a few radio people, and a photographer that I knew was already there. As we waited, I looked out of the second story window and down below and saw two men walking towards our building. Someone said \u201cthere’s Dave Gilmour!\u201d I left my guitars and rushed out. There he was, in the flesh! I boldly walked up to Gilmour and the other man \u2014 I said \u201cHi Dave, I’ve got some guitars to show you.\u201d He replied “I’ve already got 800 guitars!\u201d There wasn’t much I could say after he told me that. <\/p>\n\n\n

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 Dave Gilmour and Paul Fenton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

David was a bit shy at first, but as we talked, he became very sweet and friendly. I showed him a photo of my ’61 pink Strat and he told me that he owned the famous serial number 001 Stratocaster. We talked about echo units and I told him that I had an old Echoplex tape model. David told me all about his Binson echo unit (an Italian tube model made in the 60s that gave Pink Floyd its otherworldly sound (especially on the track “Echoes.\u201d) I later found one of these (impossibly rare) Binson Ecorecs in New York City \u2014 instant Pink Floyd! <\/p>\n\n\n

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Paul\u2019s \u201cJimmy Page\u201d model Ecoplex<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While we were discussing \u201cMadcap\u201d and \u201cBarrett,\u201d I told Dave, emphatically, that his bass playing was \u201c10\/10\u201d on the Barrett song “Baby Lemonade.\u201d It was so great to see him blush with pleasure at my sincere praise! I’m quite sure no one had ever complimented him on that before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also asked David about his slide playing, especially on \u201cOne of these Days.\u201d David showed me his minor tunings on my old National Tricone \u2014 an open D minor tuning and an open G minor. With a quick turn of the machine head the tuning went from major to minor. I’d been struggling for years playing in minor, as I normally tuned my guitars to open G and D major<\/em>. Every time someone would say to me \u201cOkay, the next song is in a minor key\u201d I’d panic \u2014 it was so unwieldy to try and play minor when you’re in a major tuning! Dave also got a real laugh, when I told him how I’d tried to learn the slide guitar on “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.\u201d I\u2019d thought he had played the slide (on that song) on a regular guitar. Some of the notes he\u2019d played were very high \u2014 sometimes an octave above the neck. He chuckled when I told him I tried to play it on my Strat \u2014 he explained that he played it on a lap steel! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I told him how much I loved his singing too. Dave Gilmour is one of my favourite singers, and he can do real justice to Syd Barrett songs when he covers them. He was so handsome and cool \u2014 and just to hear his soft, cultured, Cambridge accent! When my brother John and I went to Cambridge, while on tour in the UK, we agreed that Pink Floyd could only have come from such a beautiful, idyllic place.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Paul at Syd Barrett\u2019s house<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Dave Gilmour autographing Paul\u2019s guitar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Mick Rock autograph to Paul<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In 1972 my friend Rick Braden and I took a trip to England and Scotland for the summer. We had never been there before and it was cool to see the birthplace of the \u201cBritish Invasion\u201d firsthand. The ’60s were just over but the place still had that vibe. I was introduced to the music of Rory Gallagher on that trip, and I bought two albums while I was there that were to have a profound effect on me through the years. One was Rory Gallagher “Live In Europe\u201d and the other was Syd Barrett’s “The Madcap Laughs.\u201d I didn’t have access to a record player then, as we were hitchhiking around, and later living in the stone-walled keep of Dover Castle with two down and out tramps. I finally got a chance to listen to my new albums when we returned to Canada. The Rory Gallagher album was easy to digest (Rory later told me that he was a fan of Syd’s and had seen the original Pink Floyd line up, but Roger Waters’ bass headstock was in the way of Syd\u2019s face onstage.) \u201cThe Madcap Laughs\u201d took me a while to appreciate. I listened to side 1 in my grandmother’s basement, and it was only when I heard the last song, “Here I Go” with that nice music-hall groove that I started to enjoy the album. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Paul and Rick Braden  U.K. photo booth summer 1972<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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I followed Dave and his friend (who turned out to be his bodyguard) to the green room building. At the door the bodyguard turned and faced me and said \u201cYou can’t come in.\u201d I cockily pointed at the Pink Floyd working pass that was stuck to my shirt lapel. David looked at me and said in a quiet refined voice, \u201cLet him in.\u201d We walked up to the green room together and when we arrived my photographer friend said offhandedly, \u201cHi Dave, hi Paul!\u201d I thought that was hilarious! I sat down with Dave and we did hit it off. What was especially nice was that everyone in the room left us alone like two friends talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, I saw that the remaining members of the band \u2014 Richard Wright and Nick Mason \u2014 had arrived. All three of the “Floyds” lined up and we all shook hands. Rick Wright looked just like his pictures \u2014 handsome. He shook hands with me in a soft, gentle English way. Nick Mason looked rested and radiant.To me it was like meeting The Beatles \u2014 I couldn’t believe it!  After meeting the band, Dave and I continued our talk. There were so many questions I had thought of asking him, and I did remember to ask most of them. I told him that I was a big Syd Barrett fan. I could see Dave stiffen up as soon as I mentioned Syd\u2019s name. I had read and heard many times that Gilmour was very protective and private about anything to do with his friend Barrett (especially as Syd was still alive at the time and was very reclusive.) <\/p>\n\n\n

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Paul\u2019s Binson Ecorec<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I asked David what it was like to produce Syd’s albums \u2014 \u201cIt must have been quite an experience!\u201d He rolled his eyes and agreed that it was. I later read that it had indeed been a gruelling task to get both LPs (\u201cThe Madcap Laughs\u201d and \u201cBarrett\u201d) completed. What acoustic guitar did Syd use on his solo albums? \u201cA J-45″ Dave replied. Syd didn’t own a Gibson acoustic so Dave lent him his own. As soon as I was able, I found a J-45 similar to Dave’s, with a beautiful cherry \u201csunburst\u201d finish from the mid-\u201860s.What beautiful guitars they are \u2014 so warm, like The Beatles\u2019 \u201cRubber Soul\u201d sound! There was no information anywhere, that I was aware of, about what acoustic guitar Syd played on his beautiful solo albums, so I was delighted to learn this detail.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Paul\u2019s Gibson J-45<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Paul and John in Cambridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Later I gushed to Dave “I know you hear this every day, but it’s such a pleasure to meet you!\u201d He had spent a lot of time with me that day, and had to get ready for his show \u2014 Pink Floyd were opening their World Tour in Ottawa that night. I asked him to autograph my white Valco Airline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked Dave if he would like a copy of my band\u2019s new record. He said he would, and I gave him one, then he asked me if he could have two copies \u2026 I thought about that later, and I realized what a sweet guy he was \u2014 a big star like him, giving me all of his precious time (before his show no less) and then asking for another copy of my shitty little record! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David left the room and the other guests and I sat around with Nick Mason and chatted for a while. Nick was very relaxed and easygoing. He said that \u201cFloyd\u201d wanted to tour China. I watched the band play later and they opened with \u201cEchoes\u201d \u2014 they sounded great! It was tough to have to leave the show halfway through Echoes and go to my own humble, little gig that night. I ended up having a \u201clong night\u201d and I woke up feeling trashed. But it sure had been worth it!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-908","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=908"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1422,"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/908\/revisions\/1422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulfenton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}